Buyer's Remorse

^^ This would be my biggest worry.

Seattle you can deal with, not much snow if you are coastal. We had one snow fall last year and it melted in about an hour. I live around Vancouver. If you do a lot of snowboarding, ask yourself when the last time you used 4X4, and did you actually need it.

Then decide if you should go for the trade.

 

If you're even here posting this, mentally you're only a couple of steps away from making this trade happen. 3k over the next say 5-10 years of ownership is really nothing in the long run.

All 4x2 advocates will tell you to buy top end off road tires for lack of 4x4... Say you do that..

Go out and buy a full set of really nice all terrain/off roading tires and have them installed. How much of a chunk of money does that take away from that 3k you've determined you'll need to get into the truck you wanted in the first place? Is that difference worth the 4x4 option to you?

Yes or No, you have your answer.

 

In L.A., I find this to be true in many sales people I encounter. No one out here likes to do any hard work.

 

The majority of salesmen aren't doing so for a career, they're there a few months unless they produce sales volume. Also, every salesman can't go on a forum for every vehicle model that comes onto their lots, and know the ins and outs of every single configurable build and how to identify them all.

Sure it sounds great and easy, but then people would complain about having to spend another $5k on a vehicle because the salesman they dealt with spent hundreds of hours in training time (paid for by the dealership) to be an expert on what they spent 30 minutes looking at before signing a contract.

Consumers should be educated, the end all be all is not a salesman's pitch - it's accountability to know what you're really buying before you buy it.

 

Hah, funny that they would try to pull "women don't need 4x4" ... around here the scummy salesman line is basically something like "women NEED 4x4 to have any hope of survival."

We get snow like once a year and it makes the road wet.

Not to sound rude, but most car customers are cut out of the same cloth as well, and you don't need enthusiast knowledge to sell to them. You just sort of throw a brochure at them and grunt, they pick out a shiny thing and ask inane questions about the radio, and then you've sold a car after a bit of gentle bullying into one trim level up.

 

Personally I think you will have no problem getting around places with your 4x2 as I have with my other vehicle. the need of 4x4 is extremely rare.

But with that said I would just trade it in and get what you want. 2-3k isn't a big deal.

 

Agreed. I don't need my sales people to have written dissertation on their product. However, I would like them to know the difference between a poverty spec 740i, vs a 760iL with bulletproof glass option, and a B7 Aplina horsepower. Most salesman know the HP, but don't know the weight, or know the MPG, but don't know the HP. Basic things are lacking.


I would also like my salesman to know if a product can be had in that spec in a particular region or if I can do Euro Delivery and how much savings would that be.

If not, tell me "I don't know, I will find out." Stop lying to me.

I feel like salesman go to "lying school" first before they do anything else.

It is what it is. Thank god the for the internet.

 

It's okay to sound rude.

People are stupid. Consumers lead the pack.

 

Agreed with that, but that's nothing to do with their job, that has to do with their personality. A bullshitter will bullshit anywhere he/she may find themselves employed.

 

Chains are like $49.99. Go buy some and throw them in the bed.

 

I would keep the new truck. The gas mileage will be better on the 4x2 and you will have a few less moving parts to wear out over time. Rent a 4x4 for your trips. I go to Colorado every winter for a week and rent a mid size suv with unlimited miles. I can usually get one through Costco or Priceline for around $200 for the week.

 

I agree with posts #16 & 17... I consider myself to be relatively knowledgeable on the tacoma's, but didn't even realize they offered an OR in 4x2.. nevertheless, these guys are right, with a good set of winter tires and the LSD, you should be able to handle 98% of the conditions you'll encounter. Enjoy your truck and the remorse will wear off after a few good times in it..

On the contrary, if you did/do have plans of spending a lot more time in the mountains, at other than the ski resorts, this weekend would be the time to cut your losses and get the 4x4..

Either way I wish you the best and assure you You are not alone! I have a little remorse every time I spend over $100.00 on anything for myself. But buying any tacoma is a wise decision for your family.

 

If they have 4x4 only, they will say "women need 4x4." Whatever the inventory is, "that is what I need."

Like when they told me the hood scoop on the Sport had more HP, and that the painted flares are more "womanly." I told them "I am a lesbian, so I want the OR, mismatched fender," as my hubby was standing right next to me.

For example, when I got my 2013 Land Cruiser, my salesman wouldn't stop talking about the need for 4x4 and how it is an amazing OPTION to have. I said do you have a 2WD Land Cruiser I can check out since my LC is my office vehicle/mall cruiser (to see what they will say), and he said to me with a straight face "as a woman, you would be safer in a 4x4, however, I CAN ORDER a 4x2 Land Cruiser if you want" There are no "2wd LC" sold in the USA and haven't been for a long time.

 

Well than in my experience, 99.5% of all salesman are bullshitters.

 

I agree consumers should be educated as well. However, most salesmen are like 99% of actors in hollywood, they claim waiting tables is not their career but in the end, that is what then end up doing most of their life. Most car salesmen I've talked to have worked at numerous car dealerships of different brands and most of them I can tell are not really into cars. Regardless of the employment cycle your in or what your commission looks like, you should always strive to over achieve among your colleagues. Doing a half-axx job is whats killing this country's economy and everyone spends too much time doing pointless things that benefit no one.

 

I say get the 4x4 and then go find some places in SoCal and go wheeling ... there's some kick ass places to wheel there... how about the desert or Joshua Tree National Park, Yosemite, Death Valley.. man you're like it 4x4 CENTRAL ... I'd be hitting the trails there BroTaco. Get the 4x4 you intended to get, never look back.

 

What color is your truck?

 

45 min north of L.A. near Santa Clarita there is a huge network of mountain trails open to the public. Anyone in L.A. looking for a convenient place to off-road should check out Rowher Flats. I was just there yesterday climbing the technical side in my stock TRDORDCLB with ease.

 

I grew up in Maine with a 2wd Saab wearing studded tires in the winter (not gnarly as chains, but I never saw anyone driving with chains on except logging trucks on dirt roads) and never got stuck even in the most icy / snowy conditions there were. That said I didn't go offroading with it, but I did drive up my parent's half mile unpaved uphill driveway every day. 2wd is good for snowy conditions unless you're trying to make headway against a blizzard and most people stay off the roads - but plow trucks are usually running around the clock when this happens.

That said I'd probably get the truck you really want. Not much use in waking up every morning and kicking yourself when you start up your vehicle.

 

Go get the 4x4....It's only $2,000-3,000.....go get it now.